This guide was created to help district leaders understand the benefits and drawbacks of the four-day school week, assess their district's readiness to make the switch, and evaluate the results of implementing the new schedule. This guide begins with an overview of common goals and outcomes for the four-day school week. It then provides a set of…

This resource guide and the appendices are intended to help boards of trustees design a self-evaluation process that meets specific board needs and cultures. The information should help boards determine the approach they will use, which criteria will provide the best information for the board, who will be asked to evaluate the board, and how the…

Because school district census-taking can be problematic, three Virginia administrators who conducted a 1983 triennial census were asked about their procedures. Survey form design, vendors, post office and community relations, telephone questions, and data checking are discussed. A sample form is included. (KS)

This report provides administrators, school boards, and policymakers with data to help them in the decision making process related to distance education systems. A literature review covers theories of distance education, distance education today, the economics of distance education, distance education and technology, transmission systems, and…

The Helping Relationship Inventory was used to see whether objective improvement in medical student (n=109) communication skills occurred in a relatively brief (nine-hour) small-group course in interviewing. The study demonstrated that even brief small-group interviewing courses can effect a positive change in communication skills. (Author/MSE)

One dental education program used patient-instructors to give individual feedback from the patient's perspective to students after each of five interview scenarios. Feedback was constructive and behaviorally oriented. Ratings assessed process and content skills. Results indicates student interpersonal skills improved significantly, content skills…

This study compared three written surveys intended to help identify family strengths and needs during the Individualized Family Service Plan (IFSP) process. Subjects were 48 mothers of children enrolled in early intervention programs and 25 program providers. Mothers tended to prefer written surveys to personal interviews and rated the surveys'…

This annotated bibliography of materials dealing with the evaluation of library reference services is arranged by category including literature success, quality, and accuracy of answers; cost and task analysis; interviews and communication; classification of reference questions; reference collections; staff availability; use and nonuse of…

Questions and answers to help school business officials weed through the promotional material in order to determine the roofing system right for their buildings. (MLF)

The Individualized Critical Skills Model (ICSM) is an individualized, systematic instructional process that emphasizes teaching severely handicapped learners relevant skills in the environment in which they would naturally occur. The manual is divided into three sections. The first section discusses the historical perspective of the ICSM and gives…

Complete medical interviews and physical examinations, performed on simulated patients by a class of interns, were videotaped and scored using a rating scale developed for the purpose. Findings show that the system can be used for feedback to both students and program administration concerning performance quality. (Author/MSE)

This user-friendly guide offers advice and insight on developing defensible identification procedures and services for gifted and talented students. Special attention is given to the use of multiple methods including qualitative and quantitative assessments such as standardized measures (e.g. intelligence, aptitude, and achievement tests),…

This manual, in workbook format, introduces the principles of how to conduct an effective employee performance appraisal in the higher education setting. It uses several case studies to illustrate these principles. It is designed to be used for individual study or group workshops and seminars. The topics discussed include establishing a positive…

Regardless of how well your students are scoring on standardized math tests, test scores can't tell you which aspects of your program are moving students from proficient to advanced and why some students are falling behind. To get a total picture of math learning, hundreds of schools in urban, suburban, and rural districts use the detailed,…

A study of the faculty evaluation system at Nene College (England) is reported and compared with studies in other British universities. Evaluator, faculty, and administrator views of the program were generally positive, particularly concerning the opportunities the evaluation interviews present for discussing issues. Assessment by line manager…